My Wedding Day

While picking my brain as to what to write - I came across one of my favorite blogger's page today & she's partnering in hosting a pretty fun link up.  So why not join in?!  Thanks to Holly of Where We Can Live Like Jack & Sally  for the super fun link up!

    

So without further ado...my wedding day! And in advance, there are quite a few photos (some courtesy of my awesome photographer, but most of these are from our dear friend MaryGene, who is quite the photog herself!) - but mostly because I just loved my wedding day so much!

Well, after about a year & half of dating my Honey Isaac proposed to me in Plam Springs as a TOTAL surprise...I'm pretty good at finding out information, but he did a fantastic job keeping it a big secret.  We got married on 07/24/09 -- why did I pick this day?  Well, honestly, marrying a football coach I got my first taste of the time constraints associated with the new lifestyle of mine.  My options, working around camps & workouts, were the 4th of July or the 24th (which would lead us right in to "dead week" for our honeymoon).  Not wanting to infringe on others' holiday - I opted for the 24th. 

Alright here are the details!
Location -- my Mom & I found this beautiful venue in the hills about 20 minutes from my house.  The Willamette Valley here in Oregon is pretty well known for some killer wines, particularly our Pinot Noirs.  We were married at a vineyard called Zenith Vineyards in West Salem. It was the first place we looked at, it had an amazing bridal suite (a priority for me - since I planned on getting ready onsite!), and the views of the surrounding hills & vineyards were breathtaking.  My mom, who isn't like a glitter & butterflies mom when it comes to weddings, simply asked me if we needed to go anywhere else -- I of course said NO!  Funny part of this story....my mom put down the deposit for this place approximately 2 months before Isaac & I were engaged! So I knew something was up! Ha!

(courtesy of Vibrant Table)

The other benefit of Zenith -- they had the most fantastic catering company available.  Without question they were one of the highlights of our whole event.  I had the best coordinator who took care of everything, the food was beyond amazing, & the service they provided for our friends & family was unparalleled.  Even my mom was impressed!

 Bridal Party -- My uber popular husband wanted to have like 8-10 people in our wedding parties.  I quickly shot this down, and told him he could have 3 groomsmen, and 4 ushers.  I had my niece be a junior bridesmaid, 2 bridesmaids & my younger brother was my "Gentleman of Honor."  This is something I SO thankful I did -- friendships come & go, but family is forever.  I am thankful my little brother stood beside me on that day as my #1 go to.  And it worked out well for the recessional - since we had my brother & Isaac's best man/brother both escort my niece & the rest of the party was good to go.  I had a makeup artist/hair stylist come to the venue that day & she did the girls' hair so they looked awesome & I let them each pick out their own dresses (to honor their different body types & tastes) but they had to be chocolate brown/short. I think they turned out pretty good looking! We also had Isaac's little cousin be the lei bearer, my little cousin be our ring bearer, & our friend's sweet daughter be our flower girl.  All 3 kiddos were 4 at the time & were just so stinking cute! Isaac's cousin & our friend's daughter held hands all the way down the stairs to the ceremony site & down the entire aisle! It was precious!

Colors -- Our colors were chocolate brown, ivory, and a sort of muted light blue (think light blue hydrangeas).  Loved it.  Clean, classic & flattering.

Here are some photos from our ceremony:

 

 First Dance -- Isaac & I danced our first dance together to a song his Nana recorded.  She passed away about 10 years ago now, but she was a singer in Hawaii in the 60's & 70's - and had recorded this beautiful song "Misty Rains & Lehua" with her cousin's band.  It is seriously one of the most beautiful songs & I'm so thankful we could include her in our wedding.  We tried to add as many Hawaiian touches as possible to honor Isaac's heritage & family.  I know his Dad was tearing up while we danced.  Seriously -- go to iTunes & listen to it. It's gorgeous.  

During our first dance

Reception (I'm adding this one!) -- LOVED our reception.  Our DJ was amazing, the food was amazing, we spent a lot of time going around & seeing people.  We had people flying in from Hawaii, DC, Indianapolis, California, & Washington - so we wanted to say hello to everyone.  Our caked was phenomenal - I still go to our cake lady any time I need something special!  The toasts were amazing.  Father/Daughter & Mother/Son dances were great -- Dad & I danced to "I loved her first" & I forget what Isaac & Sheila danced too....whoops! My family danced like lunatics (expected) and my friend Morgan may or may not have shoved someone to grab my toss bouquet! It was a beautiful, tasteful, classy night - complete with good friends & family, great food & wine, and lots of love!

 

Our cake -- top tier: champagne cake w/ guava mousse.

And the cake topper: My grandparents used this when they got married in 1946. It has an iridescent feel to it, so I asked my cake lady to try & mimic that in the ribbon (which are pleated to match some pleats there were in the side of my dress).  It was such a joy to share this piece with my grandparents. 

 Oh, just my Swarovski encrusted wedding shoes....LOVE LOVE LOVE them! And have TOTALLY worn them since!

 Showing off the shoes again...Ha

 Me & my honey - in our leis (mine is pikake or jasmine for non-Hawaiians)

And our Swarovski champagne flutes.

My mom's saying thru the whole planning process: "Every girl needs glitz!"

Honeymoon -- After leaving the venue, we spent two nights at a nicer hotel in town. I HIGHLY recommend this to all my friends! We spent the next day just resting and laying low. And didn't head out to Hawaii until Sunday morning.  We then got to spend 6 beautiful days on Kauai.  It has easily become my most favorite islands. So peaceful & calm.

And to top it off - after our days in Kauai, we hopped over to O'ahu for our Hawaii party.  Isaac's Dad hosted this party for us so we could celebrate with all of Isaac's family & friends.  Let's just say it was nearly larger than our actual wedding.  Well there were certainly more people that's for sure! But it was so fun to see everyone, and basically have a whole other celebration!  Isaac's family gave us a such a gift in that party.  His aunty was amazing!  And we were SO thankful for one of his HS YoungLife leaders, Charmaine, who essentially was the party planner for the whole event.  We celebrated at the old Dole Cannery Ballroom.  Had great music. GREAT food, again! And again, LOTS of love & laughter, lots of hugs & kisses.

What Would I Change? -- Hmm...probably the amount of dancing Isaac & I actually did. We were so busy saying hello to everyone we didn't dance much.  I would have tasted more of my cake!  I would have confirmed our get away car!  We were gifted a ride from the venue by a football parent Isaac knew - he's in a classic car group & a friend of his with like a '56 candy apple green Chevrolet with suicide doors & all white interior (loved it) was supposed to pick us up -- but they ended up at another winery, and when we were there -- they headed back home, which was approximately 40min from us.  So we took my parents car to the hotel.  More candid photos during the day. All in all, there isn't much else I'd change. 

Aw, man...I just love looking back at this day.  My husband is the best man around (and I'm not the only one who thinks this! Ha!) & I am so blessed to be his wife!

Thanks for going down memory lane with me! :)